Rules
=Edola's Rules= The rules of Edola are straightforward and intended to be simple so that the focus can be on storytelling as opposed to doing a lot of math. In addition, Edola is played with only six-sided dice (although you may need quite a few). Attributes Before we dive into the rules, a short discussion on character attributes is required. A character has seven attributes, which are defined below. Attribute Description Fortitude A character's ability to resist pain and physical damage. Mentality A character's general intelligence and ability to prevent mental attacks. Brawn A character's physical strength and ability to swing melee weapons. Finesse A character's ability to perform fine motor operations like aiming. Alacrity A character's ability to move with speed and deftness, perhaps to dodge. Charisma A character's ability to project socially. All attributes have a related attribute modifier. This modifier is calculated as follows: round(attribute / 10) This attribute modifier drives a good deal of the math in Edola. Skills Skills vary much more than attributes. They can have different maximum values and generally create different modifiers. Due to their variety, each has its own specific rules. An incomplete list can be found here. Success Checks Success checks are the driving mechanism behind Edola. There are two types of checks, the first is situational and the second is interactive. CxN Dice Roll System These checks share one aspect: the CxN dice roll system. In a CxN check, a certain number of dice are rolled and, in order for the roll to be successful, N of those dice must be greater than or equal to C. Example A 4x2 check is required. 5 dice are rolled, and they show the following sequence: 1, 5, 3, 2, 4. The check is a success since two of the dice were greater than or equal to four. Had the sequence been the 1, 5, 3, 2, 2, the check would have failed, since not enough dice were above C. Situational Checks A situational check could also be called character versus situation. The game master decides on a CxN to represent the difficulty of the situation. He also decides which of the character's attributes and skills will be involved and gets their modifiers. The number of dice to roll is the total of the modifiers. The character then uses the CxN system to see whether or not he succeeds. If he fails, there is typically a penalty. Example Oh no! A log has fallen on poor Mike and he wishes to push it off. The game master decides that the check for this situation will be 4x2, and will involve Mike's brawn attribute. Supposing Mike's brawn is 45 (making his modifier 5), Mike will then roll 5 dice. The sequence that is rolled is as follows: 1, 3, 5, 4, 2. Mike succeeds in pushing the log off of himself! Had the sequence been 1, 3, 5, 3, 2, Mike would have failed and a penalty would have been incurred (most likely fatigue). Interactive Checks An interactive check could also be called character versus character. In this case, the game master only decides which attributes and skills each character is using against one another. The offender gets his total modifier for the check, as does the defender. The overall modifier is the offender's modifier minus the defender's, and represents the number of dice the offender will roll. The default CxN for an interactive check is 4x1. If the overall modifier is less than 1, the offender will still get to roll one die. In this case, C is determined by the following equation: C = 4 + (1 - overallModifier) Again, this is only used if the overall modifier is below 1. If, in this case, C becomes larger than 6, the check is an automatic fail. The C and N in this CxN can be modified by either characters' skills if they so choose and if the game master decides these skills fit the situation. In addition, if the overall modifier is less than N, the check is an automatic fail. Example Mike has escaped from his log and is immediately confronted by a vicious Bandit! The Bandit attempts to slash Mike with his sword. The game master decides that it will be Mike's alacrity versus the Bandit's brawn (if the Bandit had a sword skill, its modifier would also be involved, but he's a cheap bandit, so he doesn't). The modifiers come to be Mike at 3 versus the Bandit at 5. Since the Bandit is the offender, he will roll two dice in a 4x1 check to see if he succeeds in landing a hit. Supposing a sequence of 2, 5, the Bandit would hit Mike, dealing damage. Combat Combat in Edola is mostly driven by success checks determining whether or not a hit has landed. When determining damage, it becomes more complicated. Discussing combat requires a discussion of weaponry. Weapons Weapons can, in general, be divided into two categories: melee and ranged. These categories can be further subdivided into subsequent categories. Melee Most melee weapons are fully dynamic (both their hit and damage can be modified by their wielder's attributes and skills). Their range, however, is limited generally to the range 1-2. They are subdivided into two categories: normal and pole. Normal Almost all normal weapons have a range of 1. They include swords, axes, daggers, and various other "short" weapons. They are fully and directly dynamic. Pole Pole weapons have a range of 2, meaning that they can attack at a short distance. They are bulkier to use, however, and thus their hit is only half dynamic (your attribute and skill modifiers are halved). These weapons include spears, halberds, glaives, and other pole-mounted weapons. Chained Chained weapons are rarer and harder to classify than any other melee weapon. Their range is highly versatile, their maximum depending on the length of their chains (typically 3). As they rely on momentum in order to deal damage, they are half dynamic in damage. As they are difficult if not impossible to control once they have been swung, they are half dynamic in hit. Ranged Conventional ranged weapons are semi-dynamic, meaning only their hit is dynamic (their damage is fixed). Some skills bypass this lack of dynamic on ranged damage. The subcategories of ranged weapons are self-propelled and thrown. Self-propelled These weapons propel their own rounds, e.g. a bow or a firearm. They are semi-dynamic but their range is generally great and their accuracy is not penalized by distance. Thrown Thrown weapons are more dynamic than ranged weapons are, but they generally have a penalty for distance thrown. This penalty is determined by this equation: distanceThrown - 1 Thrown weapons are only half dynamic in damage. Attacks Attacks can be either routine ("I swing my sword at him") or creative. Almost all attacks will raise fatigue when performed. Routine Routine attacks or normal attacks are the same each time and have a constant calculation of hit, damage, and fatigue cost dependent on weapon, skill, and attribute. Creative Creative attacks can change the circumstances surrounding an attack. Essentially they are modified routine attacks. They can increase damage, hit, fatigue cost, etc. They can cause effects such as stuns or intimidates. However, all creative attacks will have a balancing trade-off which the game master will decide when they are performed. Creative attacks can be created and performed at any time (subject to game master discretion). If the player desires consistency, he should write down the creative attack for future reference. Determining Hit In a routine attack, hit is determined by the difference between the offender's total hit mod and the defenders total dodge mod. The offender's hit mod is determined by the offender's weapon, his skill with that weapon, and the determining attribute of that skill (this calculation is subject to change depending on how dynamic his weapon is). The defender's dodge mod is determined by his alacrity mod, any of his skills that help dodge the incoming attack, and his armor weight penalty. An interactive check between the two is then rolled, if successful, damage is incurred. If not, damage is not incurred.